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The Pentagon has expressed disappointment over a decision by Iraqi militias to impose an explicitly Shia name for a military operation in Iraq’s Sunni heartland, saying it could aggravate sectarian tensions.

An umbrella group for mostly Shia militia and volunteer fighters, Hashed al-Shaabi, said it had dubbed a military campaign to cut off the Islamic State group in Anbar province as “Operation Labaik ya Hussein,” which roughly translates as “We are at your service, Hussein.”

The name refers to one of the most revered imams in Shia Islam.

“I think it’s unhelpful,” spokesman Colonel Steven Warren said.

“We’ve long said ... the key to victory, the key to expelling Isil from Iraq is a unified Iraq,” Warren said, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State.

That required “a unified Iraq that separates itself from sectarian divides, coalesces around this common threat and works to expel Isil from Iraq”, he said.

“The solution is a unified Iraqi government,” he added.

Iraqi officials said about 4,000 fighters from the militia group were heading to the northern edge of Ramadi as a first step to eventually rolling back the Islamic State jihadists from the city, which fell to the extremists on 17 May.

The Iraqi government and its American allies had been reluctant to send in Iran-backed Shia militia in Anbar – a predominantly Sunni province. But the Isis advance in Ramadi – a major blow for both Baghdad and the US-led coalition – prompted Iraq to approve the deployment of the militias.

Washington is wary of the militias with ties to Iran but has said it would support a role for all forces that remain under the authority of the Iraqi government.

“Many of them (militias in the Anbar area) are under the control of the central government,” Warren said.

But he added: “I don’t know whether if any that are there are not under the control of the government.”

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The enemy is good at psychological warfare. They used beheadings and others forms of barbarity to scare the Iraqi army. Any time the savages drew close, the soldiers would flee because they knew what would follow should any of them be captured.

That was then. Now they'll use the existing distrust/hatred to their advantage. The Sunnis eventually might forced to choose a side. Will they shake hands with Shia militias, embrace them as [they would] long lost brothers?

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It will be interesting to see how this works out and, the name should not be a big problem as it is just the name of the operation and should not affect the relationship USA has with the Sunni people which has been working out to be a good choice. The Sunni people, may choose to fight the rebels like the ISIS who are using fear tactics and trying to overthrow the government as well and not worried about sacrificing any of their members. It is good the government is taking action and fighting back against the rebels and giving the message we will not take this anymore and will use weapons against you.